The View from the Armchair: Game 8 vs ADU
The Green Archers started off the second round the way they did the first – with a loss. This time to the heretofore low-flying Adamson Falcons, 55-61. It was a painful game to watch, the Archers failing to show the heart, grit, and determination they had shown in their last game against Ateneo. Adamson made them pay for it, outhustling and outplaying them in practically all areas.
What went right?
Not much, at least for our team. For Adamson, a lot. Our shooting went south, as it had in the first couple of games in the first round. The team couldn’t buy a basket, while Adamson made it look easy with their penetrations, many of they coming with a bonus free throw off an Archer foul. One positive note, Peejay seemed to have regained his shooting touch, capping his night with a tough, contested trey from above the key. Oh, yeah, Adamson’s pesky pg Lester Alvarez failed to duplicate his career game against us, but it really didn’t matter. The press did force several turnovers, but not enough to make a huge dent in the ball handling confidence of the Falcons.
What wasn’t quite right?
A lot. The Archers were perpetually a half step slow on defense, allowing the penetration and belatedly fouling the shooter who would make the shot for an and-1 opportunity. As in the Ateneo game, the boxing out wasn’t effective because the Falcon bigs were able to sneak in and grab those offensive rebounds. The perimeter defense wasn’t as sticky either, because the Falcons were able to connect on several mid-and-long range attempts. On the occasions where the Archers successfully held the Adamson offense at bay for 20 seconds, they would suddenly allow Adamson an attempt in the remaining few seconds, which would result in a made shot or a follow up.
On offense, that missing half-step translated into not-so-effective screens, hesitation in taking the shots or driving in, allowing the Adamson defenders to close the gaps. The uncertainty on offense caused a few 24-second shot clock violations or hurried shots on the part of the Archers. Some individualistic plays were seen after the players went out of the system.
If there were weights and points assigned to the degree of difficulty as in gymnastics and platform diving, the Archers would have accumulated a lot of bonus points. Adamson was no pushover, but the game was made more difficult by the erratic execution. Passing was lackadaisical, and the Falcons were able to tip or intercept several lazy passes and convert these into turnover points.
This team has too much talent to cave in just like what they did yesterday. The confidence, the mental aspect of the game will also have to be addressed moving forward, if they hope to make it to the final 4.
And finally, Adamson just wanted it more yesterday. That was probably the biggest factor – the desire.
The rookie watch
Like most of his teammates, Arvie was not as effective as in the previous game, tallying only 2 points but still contributing mightily on the boards with 6 in 15 minutes of playing time. Sam continued his streak of 3pointers without making a 2point field goal as he sank his 3point attempt while missing a closer shot. Again, as in previous games, Sam started but played only 7 minutes. Yutien was inserted in the game in an attempt to muzzle the opposing bigs, played 8 minutes, pulled down just 2 rebounds, and committed 3 fouls. Joel played 9 minutes and contributed 7 points. With his spunk and quickness, he is a welcome replacement for LA, although he still has to log major minutes this season. Jed and Gab failed to see action.
Moving forward
Next up, Ateneo on Sunday. The Archers have to regain that focus and concentration that they showed last Sunday, otherwise the well-trained Blue Eagles will make it look as easy as their disposal of UE yesterday. The Archers ca actually upend Ateneo, but will have to execute the gameplan well and play hard and smart until the final buzzer.
With a 4-4 card, our boys need to win 4 more games to have a good shot at the playoffs. That means that they must pick up the wins against UP and NU, and take at least 2 games from contenders Ateneo, UE, FEU, and UST.
It’s all a mental game from here on. The talent is there. The coaches have prepared and conditioned the team, taught them the plays and patterns. It’s now down to execution. And desire, determination, will to win. The team can do it. They just have to want to win more than the other team does, every game, one game at a time.
If you think about it, our 4-game winning streak started after we had 2 losses. Ok, we’ve coming off 2 losses. So is this another 4-game streak we’re looking at? If you can get tickets, watch the Green Archers try to duplicate that feat on Sunday.
KEEP THE FAITH!
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win or lose LA SALLE all the way! ANIMO! school spirit isn’t just about winning the uaap:) uaap is only one of the MANY reasons to love La Salle athletes and the university itself.
Nel, can you do the pre game predictions for the next game instaed of proud archers. Man, he was totally OFF the last game. The fortune tellers in quiapo was more accurate than him.
Just be realistic and fair. That is all we ask. I believe our team will redeem itself with a win this sunaday. animo la salle!!!!
Thanks.
yup, I agree with you addie proud archer was off, but he had good calls in the other games. By the way, our defense still looks like a welcoming committee to the slashing guards.
@addie, to be fair, Proud Archer’s predictions were reasonable after that strong game against Ateneo. The team’s lackluster performance against Adamson was totally unexpected. Everyone on the team was off, and it looked like the team was infected by a disease of uncertainty in the last game. If the team had won, Proud Archer would have been spot on.
Hahahahaha!!! Just came home and read the comments. The prediction article was fun. It elicited both positive and negative comments, specially after a loss. Addie seems to have the opinion that I’m an arrogant plant from some “other” school whose colors are below us in the rainbow spectrum (something to think about).
Nel knows that I am a chess player. I have utmost respect for my opponents, because unlike basketball, you can never scout an opponent before you face him/her. You can only rely on previous records/games, and even that will not give you a fair idea of what type of player you are up against “until playtime”. You don’t know how he/she reacts to a good move for instance. Yes, you also read the opponent, not just analyze the chessboard.
Unfortunately also, basketball is not like chess in some aspects. Almost all the pieces on the chessboard never increase or decrease in power. The queen will always be the strongest piece, followed by the rook, the bishop, the knight, and finally the pawn. The PAWN. Yes. The ONLY piece on the chessboard with the ability to be promoted to the most powerful piece. But until it gets promoted, is it the weakest piece on the chessboard?
I tell you NO. Its the position of the pawns which determines their power, EVEN if they don’t get promoted YET. They rarely do get promoted in a game anyway.
Oh, one more thing that is not like basketball. Your opponent has EXACTLY the same firepower as you do. Even if you’re white and you move ahead of black, it is in fact ONLY one move ahead. The first move never wins a chessgame.
Go to the prediction article again and you will see that I started the piece with “this prediction does not come from arrogance….”
It was based on my feel of what the other players who did not contribute in the first Adamson game, could have done in the second game, and after what we did in the Ateneo game.
Finally, I know the community, the studentry, and yes, even the team and the coaching staff read this site. The final statement “get ready for a devastating win” was a pep talk. A rally cry.
I made an another article which will probably come out tomorrow. Hope you like it addie.
My motive in coming out and writing in cyberspace is because when visiting sites like this, I usually encounter either fan mail or curse mail. I didn’t like what I saw. It doesn’t add to our intelligence and worse, reduces this medium to nothing more than a sophisticated slumbook (wow how old am I?) or a disease spreading mudslinging venue, mostly between green and blue.
Remember, Green Archers have Blue Eagle children nowadays, and vice versa. Some people in the community might get hurt.
Therefore, I wanted to stick to the technical side of basketball. When you win, one can say “Arvie collared 30 rebounds in the second quarter. That’s why we won”, or “Bader shot the proverbial 1 of 14 field goal shooting (my batting average was it?).
It brings the discussions to an intellectual level. What is more fun to you? Hearing a coach tell his players in a huddle, “OK, we go to play Y. If the openings are not there, shift immediately to play Z. You will lose your defender by that time”, or a coach who tells his players “Eto ang gawin natin. Galingan nyo!!!!”
It’s FUN to be controversial Nel. Not the intention though.
To the community, despite the prediction article, I remain to be a Proud Archer. ANIMO!!!!!
the archers were off vs adamson. i did not see the fire burning in their eyes as they did against ateneo. during the first quarter, i started asking myself what happened to these guys? seems like the lacked the luster and the agressiveness like what i saw the previous game. they will have to have the same desire to win if they want to secure a win against ateneo this sunday. i would like to see the “magpapakamatay” attitude to grab and shoot that ball again. i saw that attitude in the first game against ateneo. the team can do better, the talent is there, the coaching is there, all we need now is the heart to do it
proud archer a chess player?!? I suggest he plays “dama” na lang. Or is he just starting to learn chess kaya puro basic moves ng chess ang nilagay nya sa discussion. hahaha. Maybe he should play chekers instead, kasi dun pwede manghula.
boy, you might be surprised how much i know about basketball. i might be a former dlsu player even. so dont lecture me about X and Y, baka mahilo ka pag nag usap tayo.
i will point to you, your “rookie” mistakes
1. “This will not be a close game and we might probably blow Adamson away this time.”
WRONG!!!! You do not predict something as arrogant as this…unless you are the oddsmaker in binondo. Are you a bookie, proudarcher? We do not underestimate opponents, no matter what their standings are.
2. “This statement does not come from arrogance after the Ateneo performance. Just a product of my analysis and observations of the previous Adamson game and the emergence of more of our players in the Ateneo game as well.”
WRONG!!! Your analysis should be based on all the games played in the first round, including the 2 earlier losses, not just 2 games.
3. “If there is one defensive weakness we can see right now with the La Salle defensive game, it’s guarding the pass of a penetrating guard, (either a drop pass under the basket, or a kick out pass to the corners). Two crucial baskets of the previous game vs Ateneo did us in last Sunday. The corner three point shot of Salamat, and the baseline jumpshot (same side of the court) by Nonoy Baclao. When a Jai Reyes drives, the kick-out pass is usually to the opposite weakside corner jumper.”
WRONG!!! The most glaring weakness of our team is the high post picks being set up by admu regularly. It allowed a pair of 3’s from jai plus our players got lost defending it during OT.
4.”Mabe we should hire a team psychiatrist for him? Just kidding Spider.”
TOTALLY WRONG!!!! This is definitely foul & demeaning.
“I know the community, the studentry, and yes, even the team and the coaching staff read this site. The final statement “get ready for a devastating win” was a pep talk. A rally cry.”
Was calling Joshua psychotic, your way of motivating our players? What if i cheer “GO ABNOY PROUD ARCHER” when you’re playing chess, will that inspire you to play better?!?
5. Sam Marata – This is my bold prediction for this game. He will step up big time in this game. If the offensive sets are run for him (the triple staggered screen), swoosh!!!!!
WRONG AGAIN!!!! No basis at all. I don’t know where this is coming from. Are you his publicist?
I could go on all day pointing out your “rookie” mistakes but i have better things to do on a Saturday morning. Last piece of advice, don’t enjoy being controversial. YOU’RE NOT TONY ATAYDE. Tony played basketball so he knows what he’s talking about….you play chess.
With all that happened recently, im starting to like this website more
Nel = the more politically correct, slightly biased writer who is really mature and always sees the “positive” side of a lasalle win and a lasalle loss
P.A. = the more emotional writer who seems to have created his own “i hate PA” fan club, and can I blame them? Not really (i was like WTF? after i read his pre-game BEFORE I saw the game) but he’s a true LASALLE DIE HARD. The type that feels we should win every game by about 1337 points while setting a team record for steals,assists,rebounds and points everygame. The contrast between the two of them makes it more fun to read. I’m not saying I like one over the other but having someone like PA who’ll make big predictions and fail miserably brings more fun (and hits) to the site, while having Nel to keep things steady stops it from being a all-out GO LASALLE I WILL SLASH MY WRIST IF YOU LOSE fest
this is great.
… btw how do you become a writer here?
It was the UE game all over again. poor shooting, no defense, air balls thrown at the rim, settling for isolation plays, no pride, no animo.
I hope we turn things around on Sunday.
go addie go!!!!!!i believe in you that no matter what still u uplift the spirit of the archers…i dont believe you have to analyze basketball the way chess players do, one is more of thinking the other is more of action…who can ever predict that accidents can happen in a basketball game…proud archer sounds the same as tj manotoc, showing to be equal in his reporting but he is lambasting the archers and for deep inside his true blue color shows (he is atenista) compared with boom gonzales (punahin nyo lang, i dont think its by coincidence na pag may laban ang archers si manotoc ang reporter)….
Hahahahaha!!!! I am not picking a fight with you addie. You may agree or disagree with what I write. That’s OK with me. My purpose and your purpose as well is to motivate our team to do well this season. I only write what I see and that is a personal opinion. I am not angry with your comments and remarks. Those comments directed to Spider are jokes, just to perk up the discussion. I even wrote that when he goes wild, let him be. He jumps higher, drives harder, and competes.
See? You perked up.
But I really admire your passion for our team. I really do. Even to the point of writing the barbs you wrote above. That’s OK. I am not a journalist. I didn’t even claim to be a basketball expert. I am not a coach for one. AND I never said you weren’t a basketball expert did I? If you are an expert though (and from your comments above, I believe you know your basketball), make suggestions. Make the technical stuff known to us. Our team needs every input it can get now. People seem to panic because they see (naku, we HAVE to win against Ateneo because we lost to ADU and it will be 4-5 after that. Big hole to climb out of).
Right now, its a positioning game for us. The top two slots are still mathematically possible (but probability is slim, but not very slim). So more realistically, the next two slots are our target for the final four, and it looks like FEU and Ateneo will take the first two slots, if nothing changes from the first round). Therefore, its the teams in the middle of the standing with bunched up with us that are the crucial games. But don’t count out a win against Ateneo. We can do that!!!!
Anyway, the passion really should be directed at how to motivate the team, give some suggestions, get something on the cybernet that the coaches may or may not use.
In the Adamson game, nothing just clicked, that’s all. If Arvie had scored his average points for instance (not even his A game), we still would have had the a chance to win, as we lost by only 6 points.
All this is water under the bridge. We lost. But again, NOTHING is lost. In the Ateneo game, we showed that we can compete with the No. 1 team in the standings right now. In the Adamson game, Adamson showed that La Salle cannot just show up in their white armors and expect the opposition to roll over. They, as well as other teams, will fight to the end.
Just keep writing. All our opinions are either valuable, invaluable, or downright garbage. You’re also right. My opinions may be garbage not only to you, but the community as well. But I will write them down nevertheless. Let the community judge us as well. Let the others write their own opinions. All are welcome. Support, critique, shout, suggest, point out, rev up the emotions, curse (though the administrator won’t allow this, thank goodness).
Let’s motivate the players to work as a team. Let’s not point out the 1-14 percentage of Bader. He wears our uniform. If your opinion is shamefully, well put it on anyway. He will read it. At the end of the day, it’s Franz who will tell him what to do. If he puts Bader on for shooting, that is what he has to do. Franz never bawls out a player if he was in the intended spot to shoot, and he misses. He will bawl out Bader if he was in shooting position and didn’t. He also rarely gets mad at missed shots. He gets mad though at defensive lapses. That’s his style of coaching.
It’s still La Salle basketball we support here, and its still the De La Salle school that we represent so proudly. I always end with that. I am a Proud Archer. No matter what anyone says.
ANIMO!!!!!
UPDATE:as of 6:18 pm DLSU is at an embarassing 19-point hole
and I correct you proud archer, not all opinions are welcome, some negative opinions (even though true)are not posted by the admin